From the Cradle to the Grave

Meaning of Idiom

From the Cradle to the Grave: From birth to death; the entire period of one’s life; throughout one’s life. ¹,²,³

Examples Of Use

“The old woman was 104 years old. She lived in the same house from the cradle to the grave.”

“He was loyal to his king from the cradle to the grave.”

Origin

Used since at least the early 1700’s.

“From the cradle to the grave” appears in Richard Steele’s The Tatler (1709) ⁴

“In a word, to speak the characteristical difference between a modest man and a modest fellow; a modest man is in doubt in all his actions; a modest fellow never has a doubt from his cradle to his grave.”

More Idioms Starting with F

• Fight Like Cats and Dogs
• From Your Lips to God’s Ears
• Fox Guarding the Henhouse
• Friends in High Places
• Flat Broke

More From Idioms

• From Your Lips to God’s Ears
• Out of the Corner of One’s Eye
• Shoot From the Hip
• Dead from the Neck Up
• From the Ground Up

More Cradle Idioms

• Rob the Cradle

More Grave Idioms

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References

1. Ammer, Christine. American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013.
2. Heacock, Paul. Cambridge Dictionary of American Idioms. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2010.
3. Ayto, John. Oxford Dictionary of English Idioms. Oxford: Oxford U, 2010.
4. Ammer, Christine. American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013.